


The Shape of Stardust

by heskaarl (ohthe_bliss)



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Recovery, Romance, Sign Language, Tessa is a mess, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Shape of Water AU no one asked for, mute character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-24 11:47:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14354820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohthe_bliss/pseuds/heskaarl
Summary: When a strike team on Voeld recovers alien tech from a Kett base, Jaal is sent to evaluate what has been newly dubbed 'The Asset'. What he finds is not only unexpected but has the potential to turn everything they thought they'd known on its head.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I literally watched The Shape of Water three times in a row. Extrapolate from there.

The gale-force winds buffeted the small shuttle, making it sway widely as it began its descent through Voeld’s atmosphere. The occupants of the shuttle both veterans and new recruits alike gripped the safety harnesses that strapped them in. After a particular violet rattle, Jaal fervently wished for the costly gravity stabilizers to have been installed.

Their pilot landed without incident onto the landing pad hidden by the constant blizzard. The other passengers exited, some shaking, others rushing out to greet old comrades with hugs and backslapping. Jaal waited for it empty before making his own exit into the mountain; the planet’s Resistance headquarters as familiar to him as his family’s compound. The paths within snaked and twisted through the rock, branching off into other cave systems. All alongside solar lamps were placed giving the soldiers some relief from the oppressive darkness within.

With his feet on autopilot, Jaal mentally reviewed his current mission. A small strike team had stumbled across a hidden Kett lab inside of the larger camp they had been tasked to take down. Most of the team had perished but a few had returned to share their tale. More importantly, they did not return empty-handed. It was unclear just what they had brought back with them; what mattered was that the Kett had been all but frantic trying to get it back. Jaal had arrived to be Evfra’s eyes, and see just what it was that they had liberated from the enemy.

As he turned the corner his eyes landed on Commander Do Xeel in front of the giant live-map of the planet in a meeting with her lieutenants. He stayed out of the way to wait. After a few moments, she looked up and waved him on over.

“Jaal,” she greeted tiredly. “Have you returned to us?

He shook his head regretfully. “Only briefly, Commander. Did you not receive Evfra’s report?”

“Our comms have been spotty at best. New signal east of here. I’ve sent a team to investigate but they’ve yet to report back.” The lines around her mouth tightened. Clearly, she didn’t think they were going to return and it was with a heavy heart Jaal had to agree.

“What brings you back then, Lieutenant?” A scout handed her a datapad that she glanced over.

“The object your soldiers liberated. Evfra wants more information on it. I’m to question the survivors about what it is they’ve found and what they saw.”

Do Xeel shook her head. “Only three of them made it back and two succumbed to their injuries last night. The third, Ishveri, is too delirious to be of any help at present. Your answers will have to wait until she’s stable.”

“And the object?” He prompted.

“The brains in the lab have been calling it ‘The Asset’.  I won’t stop you from going to take a look, but it’s stumped all of them. Even the ones from Hjara.”

Jaal rolled his neck feeling the fatigue of the journey weigh upon him. “Where would I find it?” She gave him quick directions before being hailed by one of her people. With a friendly slap on the shoulder, she departed.

After pausing to check his terminal for any further communication from Aya, Jaal soon found himself outside a metal door where an elderly Angara was arguing with a much younger female. He dismissed her with a huff before rounding on Jaal.

The old man squinted. “And who are you?” Jaal nodded and opened his mouth to introduce himself but was cut off as he continued to speak. “No, no, enough of that, I can guess who you are. One of little Sjefa’s students, yes? Yes, I do think so. You’ve all got that look about you.

“I knew her when she was knee-high to an adhi you know. Back when she was all about science and discovery. Now she plays the politician in the sunlight,” he shuddered as if in disgust. “Not me though! I remember where my roots are. Don’t let anyone say Old Torsaan doesn’t remember his place in the world.” Torsaan jabbed a code into the panel by the door behind him and ushered them forward. “Come now we don’t have all day!”

The two of them took turns in front of the small decontamination console before filing into a lab. A strange metal object had been set up on one of the tables. The Asset, Jaal assumed. Alien sleekness and silver were interrupted by damage and dents all around the thing most notably around an almost invisible seam.

“Drone? Drone!” Torsaan shouted. A blue ball of pixels materialized by his shoulder.

_“Yes, Doctor Torsaan?”_

“There you are. Begin recording, if you would?”

The drone pulsed brightly, bobbing at his shoulder. _“At once, Doctor Torsaan.”_

Torsaan made his way over to the table gesturing for Jaal to take a place on the other side of the table out of the way. “Right,” he began. “This begins today’s proceedings, unlocking the alien device known as the Asset that was retrieved from the Kett facility. Drone, remind me to update this log with the correct date later.”

_“Yes, Doctor Torsaan.”_

The old doctor grumbled under his breath as he tapped the smooth shell. “Subject appears to be metal in nature. Initial scans determine it is made from an unknown alloy. Design not compatible with usual Kett aesthetics; most likely from a currently unknown alien race. Approximately two point five meters long and one meter wide. Damage consistent with previously identified Kett tools,” he paused. “Huh. Strange.”

“What is?”

“There’s a Remnant energy signature coming from inside.”

A chill crawled up Jaal’s spine. The Asset didn’t appear to be Remnant, but then again, they had barely scratched the surface on it.

“Object impervious to usual internal scanning methods,” Torsaan made a note on the tool glowing over his arm. “No choice but to crack it open!”

Jaal took his place beside the doctor, watching with interest at the way his fingers ghosted over the tool marks of the pod. The tinkerer in him was offended by the hack job. Something like this deserved time and patience; clearly the Kett had been in a hurry. “Is that safe, Doctor?”

Torsaan snorted. “Safe? Nothing is safe, lad, surely you’re old enough to know that. The only safe thing is to blow it to pieces! No, no. We just need the right frequency and we’ll get this open.”

“Frequency?”

Torsaan nodded. “Whoever or whatever designed this obviously didn’t want it to be opened accidentally. Not like an escape pod,” he chuckled. “Can’t be opened manually, hence the repeated tool marks. Has to receive a signal.” He paused to scan the pod once again, frowning as he did so. “Those damned Kett did figure it out eventually. Before they put it all back together anyway.”

The drone bobbed over the top of the pod in front of them. _“I have determined the frequency that will open the pod.”_

“Have you now? Go on then.”

A purple scanner emitted from the drone and to their surprise, an orange HUD appeared, overlaying the smooth metal. Alien characters flashed across the display to fast for translators to pick up. The sound of machinery whirring nearly drowned out the alarms of the drone but as quickly as it started it stopped. A puff of freezing air seeped from cleverly hidden vents located near the bottom of the object and slowly it opened.

For a moment the room was silent before Jaal regained use of his voice box. “Doctor,” he said slowly. “Is that what I think it is?”

Torsaan gripped the edge of the table tight enough for his knuckles to pale and nodded.

An alien body - because of course it was – lay still within. His first impression was how small it was, quickly followed by how fragile. It was utterly bizarre to look at.  The flesh was as pale as moonlight interrupted by light brown spots sprinkled across like constellations.The alien was shaped like Angara with two legs, two arms, and two eyes, but the similarities ended there. The legs were the wrong shape, looking spindly and unstable lacking the extra joint. Fine, dark, threadlike strands that grew from its strangely shaped small skull were draped in a long tail over a skinny unprotected shoulder.  

He dragged his eyes down, hissing between his teeth at deep scarring across the torso. Two thick lines from the shoulders meeting in the center of the chest between two protrusions extended to a third incision all the way down the abdomen. Around the incisions, the skin was puffy and angry looking. Jaal reached out a careful hand to touch it noting how much warmer it appeared that the surrounding area. Torsaan nudged him out of the way to continue his notes.

“Motherless bastards,” he swore as he ran his scanner over the length of the body. “What a mess. Butchery, plain and simple. Drone, give me a full analysis.”

_“Certainly, Doctor. One moment please.”_

As the drone busied itself with its scans, Jaal moved out of the way for Torsaan to continue his observations. The old doctor’s hands were unusually gentle handling the body; giving it the respect it had been denied in life. After a moment of hesitation, Jaal too reached out a hand to take the smaller one, thumb stroking across the back of its knuckles. How strange it was to see something so similar to his own people.

Blue eyes traveled up noting the lean muscle of the arm where it connected to a slender bone just below the long frighteningly fragile throat. Six neat cuts, three on each, were sliced neatly along the sides. He called for the doctor’s attention who then tilted the chin up with gentle hands.

“What is the significance of this?”

The doctor pulled up one of the new scans onto his tool and raised it to compare. “This here” he tapped a finger on a specific spot, “is where the voice box is located. These incisions are deep, precise. Likely they meant to cut the muscle that vibrates the vocal chords.”

Jaal’s brow furrowed. “But wouldn’t that leave them unable to speak?”

“That was likely the point,” he grimaced. “Scans confirm they were awake when the Kett cut them open. Easier to work on a silenced subject.”

That was too much for Jaal. Dragging a hand over his face he stepped back from the table to lean heavily against the wall. It was known that the Kett were monsters. But this… if they were willing to do this to another species what did that mean for them? Were the rest of their kidnapped kin suffering the same fate? “I need to file a report. Evfra will want to hear about this.”

 


	2. Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm using ASL because I don't know anything else.

**A Communication from your son Jaal**

**To: Sahuna Ama Darav**

**From: Jaal Ama Darav**

_ Mother, _

_ Forgive me for responding so late to your mail. My current mission was the cause of my delay. I have arrived safely and yes, I have passed your love on to Koana. She is also sorry for being unable to contact you and the rest of the family; the comms have been unreliable.  _

_ I should not talk about what it is I am doing here but I find that for once, I am unable to keep this to myself. Evfra is not pleased with what we have discovered but this is not a surprise. I have been ordered to stay and see this through.  It is not the worst mission I have ever been on and I confess, I truly want to stay. The world has changed, Mother. Or at least it feels like it has. A team recovered what we are now calling the Asset from a kett base. We opened it earlier today. _

_ Inside was an alien, unlike anything I have ever seen. It is… so small and fragile looking, so utterly strange to look at. Almost as if someone took the base components of an angara when creating them, that is how similar it is to us. Old man Torsaan is overseeing the study of the body and has taken to calling it a she. While I do not want to assume where it falls on the gender spectrum I suppose I can see where he make that assumption. There is something graceful about the way they are shaped. Delicate, like Elmohk blossoms; with skin almost as pale as those petals. _

_ We have limited knowledge about the Asset and as such only a handful even know of her existence. The majority think she is Kett or somehow affiliated with them. I… disagree. If I understood Torsaan correctly, the Kett were experimenting on her while she was still alive. That is not something one would do to their allies. No, I feel this poor creature simply had the misfortune of crossing paths with them. I do not want to think of the alternative. _

_ Perhaps it is odd to say but looking at them I feel… I feel they are not the enemy. You would understand if you saw. For once I do not quite understand what it is I am feeling. My heart tells me they are not one of them; it feels heavy at the suffering they clearly endured. An alien, an outsider, not one of our own - and yet they too suffered at the hands of our would-be conquerors. I almost wish the team had not wiped out that base; death was too good for the likes of them. _

_ It is late and I must get some rest. Give the family my love. _

_ Your son, _

_ Jaal _

* * *

 

The arrival of the Moshae was met with little fanfare, mostly on account that her presence had not been advertised. It was no secret that she was precious to their people; her being on the planet that was the center of their ground war against the Kett had the potential to be a tempting target. Jaal had railed against Evfra against it but had ultimately been shot down. It was too risky to move the Asset; so the Moshae had come to her.

In order to preserve the body, they at put it back in the pod once they determined its purpose was to keep it in a state of suspended animation. After some calibrating, they were able to alter their equipment for the scans to penetrate the pod. Jaal sat stiffly in a chair inside the lab watching with interest in the flurry of activity before him. Biology had never interested him but watching the scientists run test after test had been educational. 

The Asset had 206 bones and 650 muscles. According to the Moshae, they were remarkably similar on the inside; one heart, two lungs, a large brain, and a complex nervous system. Additionally, they were able to determine that biologically she was female due to the similar reproductive system of the angara who carried children. 

Eventually, the battery of tests came to an end in order for them to break and take care of the physical needs of the body. Jaal stayed behind, taking a moment to set it all sink in. 

“I am sorry,” he said with a heavy sigh and heavier heart as he laid his hand on the smooth shell. A weak current escaped his field, twining around the pod before dissipating. It wasn’t enough. Would never be enough. Whoever they had been was long gone, alone among strangers who didn’t even know her name. As he looked down through the half-frosted glass he allowed himself to wonder. Were there more like her out there? Encaged by the Kett, the subjects of vile experiments, alone and afraid? He hoped not. Just the thought of all that darkness… His fingers splayed over the glass.

His field sparked -

_ Thud. _

Jaal jerked his hand away and saw a five-fingered hand pressed against the glass. For a moment he just stood there unable to even think. When another thud came from inside he found his wits, grasping for the commlink on his forearm.\

“What is it?” grumped Torsaan.

“Get the Moshae and come back immediately.” 

There was a rustling and the gentle voice of the Moshae came through. “What is wrong, Jaal? You sound distressed.”

“They Asset is awake.”

The call dropped. The banging had become louder now, more desperate. After a split-second of deliberation he threw all caution to the wind and typed in the code to open the pod. With a hiss, the shell slowly creaked open an inch before coming to a halt. There was just enough space for him to wedge his fingers through and yank it open.

With a huge gasp, the Asset sat up, slumping over the side of the pod, sucking in air as if they couldn’t get enough. He had no idea what prompted to lay his hand on their back; perhaps an instinct to comfort someone in distress? Whatever it was it turned out to be the wrong thing to do.

The Asset - what an ugly thing to say - froze under his touch and with a clumsy scramble darted away from him. In their haste, they overbalanced and tipped over the side of the table. With a shout, Jaal tried to catch them. They flailed, catching their arm on the edge of the table which cut deep. Red bloomed and oozed thick and viscous, splattering on the floor as they tried to put as much space between the two of them.

In the sterile lab there was no place to hide. This did not stop them from wedging deep into the corner as tightly as they could. 

Throughout it, all the Asset had been eerily silent but not of their own choice Jaal knew. The lines at their throat were still raw and likely still painful. Just the thought of being silenced, unable to scream or cry or make a sound was enough to soften his heart more than it should. 

Slowly so as to not frighten the alien further Jaal knelt in front of the console keeping his hands where they could see them.

The long mass that grew from their head obscured much of their face, much more mobile than he’d thought. It truly was thread-like, the individual strands so thin he couldn't even begin to consider their function. The Asset shoved it back over their shoulder presumably to clear their field of vision.  Two eyes stared back at him, a lush deep green not unlike the dense flora of Havarl. Most of it was obscured, just a thin band of color around the large black pupil set against a shocking white where he only knew black. The small feathery strands were thick around the eyes making them seem larger than they were.

He’d never seen green eyes before. 

Earlier the Moshae and Torsaan both had discussed the possible intelligence of the Asset. They had only been able to guess about their body composition seeing how there was none other to compare them to. For all they knew the alien had no more mind than that of an adhi. 

But as Jaal knelt before the trembling alien it was clear it possessed an intelligent mind. There was an awareness that peeked through the terror. Something recognizable in something so alien.

“ _ Paavoa _ , little one,” he said as gently as he could.  “I am not going to hurt you. There is nothing to fear.”

There was no comprehension at his words although they did tilt their head to the side, listening. Petal pink lips parted but all that came out was a soft,  _ puh  _ of air. The Asset tried again with the same result. Agitation twisted their features as they struggled to force their voice to work to no avail.

“Calm yourself. You are safe.” It couldn't understand him but he hoped the tone of his voice would convey what he was trying to say. 

It was inaccurate to say it worked; more like they had stopped leaning back quite so far. The alien made no move to reach out but met his gaze readily, chin held high in what he thought might be defiance. If they were able to put on a show of bravado in the face of uncertainty then perhaps there was hope.

Both of their heads snapped around at the sound of the lab doors swooshing open. Jaal settled himself more solidly between them and the alien. 

The Moshae reached him first, looking down at the alien below over his shoulder. She clucked her tongue. “Jaal,” she chastised gently “She needs medical attention.” The Asset bared their teeth in a silent snarl when she reached out toward them with a kind hand. Jaal rose and stepped away with some reluctance, eyes fixed on the alien in the corner. The alien cradled their injured arm as if finally realizing they’d been hurt. Green eyes flicked rapidly between the three of them, knees tucked up under their chin, trembling like a leaf in the breeze. 

“Poor dear. I cannot even begin to imagine the trauma they endured at the hands of those monsters,” the Moshae clucked her tongue. She bustled about with an obvious familiarity with the place gathering various supplies from cupboards and drawers. “Jaal, up there you’ll find a blanket. Fetch it for me please?” 

He did as he was bid and returned to see her trying to coax the trembling alien out. Its eyes were so wide he could see the whites all around the peculiar green irises. Kneeling down beside her he offered the blanket. When they made no move to take it, he set it down, pushing it as close as he dared. 

He held his breath as he waited but could not repress the wide smile when they reached out and snatched it, swinging it over their shoulders quickly, tucking it comfortably around them. It had been designed with angara sizes in mind and dwarfed her much smaller frame. He was so distracted by watching them snuggle into the soft fabric that he almost missed the gentle tapping on his shoulder. The Moshae slid a packet of nutrient paste into his hand before tipping her chin toward their new guest. 

Like before with the blanket he slid the shiny foil packet between them. The alien eyed it suspiciously but picked it up all the same. They turned it over in their five-fingered hands, even bringing it to their nose to smell. “It is just food, little one,” he said. Still no comprehension. “Food,” he repeated slower, emphasizing the word. Nothing. Another one of the packets was pressed into his hand. After making sure he had their full attention, he opened the crinkly wrapper and squeezed out a mouthful. A flash of inspiration; thumb touching the tips of his other fingers he brought it to his lips and tapped them against his mouth.  _ Food. _

The alien cocked their head and looked down at the packet.  _ Food _ they signed back. Jaal beamed and nodded encouragingly. They signed the word again before tearing into it. Very quickly the packet was emptied. It took four more before they were satisfied, stacking the emptied ones beside them neatly. He offered another but the alien shook their head. Again he caught their eye and very slowly held up his palms then turned them out towards them for  _ Done.  _ “Done,” he said clearly. And like before they copied him, head cocked and eyes narrowed.

“Stars above. I never thought I would ever see anything like this in my lifetime.” Jaal glanced at the Moshae beside him as she stared at their new guest with bright eyes. “The implications… I do not even know where to begin.”

“This seems as good a place as any to start,” he replied.


End file.
